ps17

RoyalCruz,

Thanks for the restaurant info. We are staying at Courtyard on the Beach. Based on your input, the crab is out. We will have to pick between the Thai and a Spanish/Cuban place. Or if you have any close to Courtyard reccomendations, that would be great. Seafood, Thai, sushi, Japanese are what interests us. While I have your attention, a few more questions:

1) 4 of us are getting off of the Oasis and we then have something like a 1:00/1:30 flight out of Miami. What is the best strategy (time etc) to get off the ship? Is there a debarkation time you sign up for? (never been on RCCL before so don't konw their procedures. We would like to be at the airport by say 11:00/11:30.

2) For 4 people, should we just grab a cab to Miami? I heard it is around $85. The the other choices are town car or transfers (which may be $35 per person).

3) We plan on doing the Valet luggage service where we say goodbye to our luggage the night before. Any issues with this?

4) Back to courtyard. We are flying in to FLL airport. Should we just cab to the hotel, cab to dinner the night before, and then cab to Oasis on Sat morning? Or is there a rental car option (it would be National for us due to corporate rates).

5) Are there any convenience stores close to that Courtyard?

6) If we want to save money, is there any fast food breakfast near there? Or should we just eat at the Courtyard.

Thanks in advance (hopefully, I can get everything answered in this one post).

Thanks again.

PS17

Will be there at Courtyard on Mar 29. Looking forward to nice dinner night before cruise. WNeed some restaurant comments and suggestions from the following:

Thai Spice: We love a good Thai restaurant but latest reviews on yelp say it is going down hill. Is this true? Is this THE Thai restaurant to go to?

TeeJay Thai and Sushi: There is a place in Port Canaveral that we love called Thai Thai that serves Thai and sushi. Great Thai food. This place sounds familiar but it seems like it may be more sushi than Thai. How does this place compare to Thai Spice.

Rustic Inn Crabhouse. The idea of crab sounds great (we used to like Crabby Bills in St. Petes), however mixed reviews in yelp. Some say that some of the crab does not seem fresh "mushy", "watery", or "not much meat", or expensive are some adjectives heard. Comments?

Finally, we are also intrigued by Cuban/Floribbean type restaurants, Columbia in St. Petes area, Tio Pepes etc. We are talking carribean, cuban, spanish type places where one might get some Paella, ropa vieja, or something like chicken, grouper, or snapper with some rice, beans etc. etc. Are there any places like this around?

Hopefully, we can narrow it to one, but any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

Are prices posted anywhere, or can someone on this thread just post an estimate of the following types of drinks? We are pretty habitual with our alchohol and cruise habits and with information, we should be able to make an estimate and determination.

Afternoon at the pool: tropical cocktails

Dinner every night: Martinis, glass of wine

Post dinner at the show, bar or club: Mixed drinks (such as vodka tonic, or bar specialty drink.

Hi,

We need a hotel to spend a single night prior to cruise on Mar 30. We will be arriving around 5:00PM, but would not mind a beach/downtown type hotel so that we can begin to be "immersed" in beach/resort/vacation mode. Proximity to touristy areas and facilities would not hurt.

It is late in the game and the ones that show availability that are in our possible price range ($300-$350ish) include the following: Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Courtyard Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Sheraton Ft. Lauderdale Beach, Westin Resort Beach and Spa, and B Ocean.

Any comments on any of these hotels that would make one more attractive than the other? Or should we go for the cheapest one.

Thanks in advance for any perspective here.

ps17